If you’re familiar with Valentine’s Day episodes in Anime, there’s often quite a bit of fretting on the part of various female characters about who is giving chocolate to whom, or male point-of-view worries over who is going to be giving them a gift.

(This is not actually a White Day photo, but it’s frickin’ brilliant. Courtesy of Xinyuan Coffee & Tea in Taiwan )

According to legend, White Day was kickstarted by the candy industry as a way to split up Valentine’s day by suggesting that men should pay the women back in their lives who had given them chocolate or gifts on Valentine’s Day. In 1977, a company by the name of Ishimura manseido(?) decided to market marshmallows to gentlemen in March, and the trend apparently switched to white confection chocolates the following year – making the first upswing of the trend in 1978.

There are two kinds of chocolate that are received on Valentine’s Day, and reciprocated on White Day.

Courtesy Chocolates – giri-choco – chocolates that are given in friendship or acquaintanceship (not to be fussed over, just a polite gesture) out of obligation

Most depictions show courtesy chocolates being given to co-workers, close classmates, club members, etc.

Romantic Chocolates – honmei-choco – chocolates offered because they ~like~ the other person.

This is more what we think of when we think of Valentine’s Day chocolates – on Valentine’s day, girls offer sweets to their potential sweetie. Either out of obligation or mutual interest, the man/target/fellow student is expected to reciprocate if they are interested in pursuing the relationship

In Valentine’s Day episodes, there’s usually additional fussing over whether to buy chocolate or to make it, and sometimes an entire episode dedicated to showing how determined the characters are to making an edible treat.

On White Day, It’s the men’s turn to reciprocate, by giving chocolate, or trinkets, or more elaborate displays of affection (if they are positively responding to a Valentine’s Day romantic confession).

So, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th (all over) and White Day is celebrated on March 14th in various countries in Asia. Additionally, South Korea (some websites suggest Japan as well), has started to adopt the concept of “Black Day”, in which single people gather and console each other with food if they did not receive White Day or Valentines’ Day gifts.

Whether you participate in Valentine’s Day or not, the team at Anime Binge hopes you have a pleasant week, and lots of chocolate (they go on sale after the holiday!), hugs, anime (we recommend “Yuri on Ice” for a new show, or “Vandread” for a classic romcom binge), plushies, or whatever makes you the most happy about being you! Have a great week!

While most binges are spontaneous and happen in one’s spare time, if there’s a series that you’ve been meaning to watch, you might try out mobile apps for Crunchyroll and the like. If your commute is longer, you can watch your show on the bus, etc.

2 – Make it a double feature

There are TONS of Anime movies out there that are out on DVD and available through Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, and Amazon. If you have a local DVD store, they may have a few of the older ones available for rent. Pick two by the same group, or with similar/contrasting themes, and have fun!

A really easy and common double feature/film binge is to pick a studio and watch two of their films in a row. (Studio Ghibli has enough films for a proper bender, but it’s not recommended for the faint of heart.)

3 – The Flight

(In Seattle, craft breweries will usually have a way to try multiple flavors at one sitting, and it’s usually called a “flight.)

Watch episodes one and two of at least three different anime. If you hook in, pick which one to watch all the way through next time.

4 – Anime Club

You don’t have to binge alone – if you’re part of a high school or university you may have an anime club already, or may be able to start one. Anime Binge was founded by a proud member of MEK Theta Sigma – a combination Anime Club and fandom community at Webster University

5 – Pick a Shorty

Most 12 ep anime series can be polished off in one day. Some of them don’t have a proper ending (no renewal) and some are just perfect and require a second watch later to really get the gist (FLCL is a great example).

6 – Plan a day and time, and ATTACK!

Some anime series just aren’t built for distract-able people. You can’t watch Stein’s Gate and still get the full gist if you do dub only with only watching occasionally. Or sub only with only watching occasionally. You will miss hint after hint of the wider story if you do.

One final note… In defense of “The Bender”
While you don’t necessarily want to binge the entirety of a 12 season anime in four days, there’s a perfectly legitimate excuse for The Bender – You always wanted to, and now you have, and don’t you feel better now that you have?

It’s difficult to maintain a “Bender” if you’re the only one doing it. You will have questions that you don’t have the answer to mid-season, you will have epiphanies that you can’t share with anyone else because they won’t get it. Let AB know if you’re going to attempt a Bender and we’ll do our best to attack it with you in parallel time. Tag us on our Facebook and let us know what you’re up to!

Libraries, Intrigue, Foxgirls in wheelchairs, Lolita style and secret societies! That’s the at-a-glance description of Foxy and Wolfy: Chaos, a manga-style indie comic conceived and written by Kitsune Windsor. The creator of Foxy and Wolfy took some time to talk with Anime Binge about some of the more unique aspects of the shoujou comic, as well as some anime inspirations and recommendations of his own.

[NOTE: MILD UNMARKED SPOILERS AHOY]

Kitsune Windsor: I’m Kit Windsor, nice to meet you!

Anime Binge: Let’s talk about “Foxy and Wolfy” first. It struck me as REALLY interesting that one of the two main characters (Wolfy/Amaya) was born in Iran… can we talk about it just a little?

Kit W.: Sure, there are a few reasons why. One is that my prom date and friend was from Iran and experienced some of the life and everything. Also being LGBT is very dangerous, so [I] modeled Amaya Bellerose after my friend, a strong Iranian lady.

I made Amaya come from Iran to show that they have great people.

AB: That’s really great! I love that the main couple are completely devoted to each other.

Kit W.: It plays a big part later on, the spiritual bonds

AB: That makes sense. Actually, you have a lot of different characters with cultural ties, and two of the three main characters are wheelchair bound. It plays very naturally in the comic. How did it come about?

Kit W.: I myself have muscular dystrophy and use a wheelchair daily. Misaki represents doing your best with what you have and enjoying life.

Roza is severely disabled, but lives happily. She flirts, is smart and just a human being…

Both parts of me. They’re meant to show disabled as just people

AB: They really add texture – and having them both there as a part of the main trio doesn’t put all the pressure on one character to be “the girl in the wheelchair”. They’re both equally unique in their own ways.

Are there any big things happening at F & W Central?

Kit W.: Currently making book 0 to better explain our world and it will be ready Valentine’s day [2017]. Then updating book 1 and will be ready by June. Then Kickstarter for book 3 late May.

We want top quality.

AB: Ah! Prequels are a great addition to a series.

Kit W.: New style is amazing.

AB: Actually, I’m going to take a second to gush a little bit. The black and white art is beautiful, but the coloring to the books so far has been really lush and amazing. Why did you (and your team members) make a decision to include a colorist with the launch? Has it been worth it?

Kit W.: Color versions are for Kickstarters and Gofundme only, we have a new colorist as the original was too busy. She’s an awesome lady.

Some prefer our b/w.

AB: I can completely understand – most Manga is exclusively in B&W, so it makes sense.

Let’s talk a little about inspiration. Foxgirls, Kitsune, and spirit stories are sprinkled throughout Japanese folklore – do you have a story or an anime that you feel influenced your team?

AB: It’s hard to keep a cast diverse but easy to keep them all the same. I really appreciate that you are willing to tackle those questions with your characters.

So, last question: When I first contacted you, I was curious about a few things. One was how your team got in touch with each other – are you a remote team, were you buddies in real life – how did it come about?

Kit W.: Actually, I started hiring concept artists and slowly built a team. The [B&W] current artist asked to join.

In a world headed towards self-driving cars, we aren’t TOO far removed from this future, actually.

And if your goal is to avoid romance altogether, just immerse yourself in One Piece. There aren’t any robots, but they did say that there isn’t any romance officially scheduled in the storyline either, because that’s “just not what they think their audience wants”. Hey, if the creator says so, it must be true. Perfect!

You can also watch Pacific Rim and Voltron if you’re looking for non-romantic robot stories, but you aren’t restricting yourself to Anime. (We’ll talk about where both franchises got their inspiration from some other time.)